Conquest of the Horde

I actually shrugged off retail WoW roleplay solely because of the uncalled for and unjustified hate for particular races or classes OOC that leaked like poison into IC. Great googly moogly, if this happens here Imma lay a smack-down. This is like my last resort for quality WoW roleplay. I'll be minorly infuriated if it gets mucked up like retail WoW. I was never at any time the target of the ridiculous race-based or class-based bullying but that does not keep it from making a server utterly unappealing.

(Edited to add in the last sentence. And this)

I've been thinking at work about this, and I've come up with something.

Respect the character, otherwise it'll seem like you're disrespecting the player. And always remember rule #1 of CotH.

^I can't like this enough.

You know, out of all the races of WoW that we play, I firmly believe that Gnomes are taken the least seriously. And it isn't the people who play Gnomes, it's the people who don't play Gnomes. I know that they don't mean bad by it, but they often find Gnomes cute, and nothing else. However, there's a lot behind that cute that people put into their characters because Gnomish society does a lot to Gnomes as they grow up in it because it can be strict in many aspects and if you add the fall of Gnomeregan and the eradication of 90% of a race, you're dealing with a character that has a complicated history. Additionally, they see the world in a different way: what they can make out of it. It's a very thoughtful race to play and not many people seem to think that it is. And no matter how many reasons people give to take Gnomes seriously, there are still plenty of players who will read them and still not take Gnomes seriously. It's annoying, and it's the reason I'm retiring my Gnome character.

(12-10-2012, 04:25 PM)SachikoMaeda Wrote: [ -> ]Respect the character, otherwise it'll seem like you're disrespecting the player.

I have to say that I disagree with this principle. I've teased and mocked the characters of people whose players I love and adore. I have made light of and sometimes critiqued the ideas and concepts of my fellow writers by habit over my years in RP communities, and it's rarely something intended maliciously - it's just poking fun. There's no inconsistency, to my mind, between doing this and having all fondness for the players and writers themselves.

People make exaggerated jokes about Voragh being a violent, lecherous knucklehead. People make exaggerated jokes about Jared being a deluded, genocidal zealot. Sometimes it gets a little tedious to me, because there's more to the two of them than that, but I very much like them as they are. On reflection, I think I like the idea that I make an impression on people enough to inspire humour.

But if you don't want elements of a character's concept to be commented upon, it is generally most advisable to tone them down, because if they're in people's faces they're invariably going to attract comment. And why wouldn't you want something commented upon? Discussion in itself isn't a bad thing - there's no harm in pointing something out or making a joke about it. If the repetition of jokes is what you're concerned about here, then I get that, but surely you can see where they come from, and I think you should realise that they're not intended as digs at you.

Honestly, I'm surprised that you're surprised that Doran attracts jokes. I confess that I find his whole concept difficult to take completely seriously, because frankly, he compounds every misguided sissy-boy stereotype you ever heard about blood elves -then magnifies them tenfold. More than that, he almost embodies a few crude, negative stereotypes of homosexual people in general, and that's the major reason the character rubs wrong on me - stereotype.

Now, it's one thing to write off an entire group of RPers because you disregard a race, deriding every player character in a race as possessing X characteristic and casting uniform aspersions on them. That is reprehensible, and that's why this thread was made.

But Doran as a character possesses a cocktail of characteristics that simply invite comment and jest, when presented in the manner you play and describe him. They're not dismissing him as a character, or dismissing you as a writer, they're simply pointing out his defining external characteistics. :P The frequency of these remarks, I suspect, largely stems from new people encountering Doran for the first time every day. People experience the outlandish novelty of his character concept for the first time every day, in other words, and why should they be kept from commenting upon it? I'm confident people mean you no disrespect in making a few teasing remarks about a character's lack of pants.

(All the above aside, everyone should like Ghurm's post because gnomes rock.)

I agree with you. And I will say this. The concept of frivolity on this server is constantly undermined by the souls of the weak and the actions of the strong. For too long have we dwelt under the iron fisting of oppressors who have nothing but our happiness in mind when they tell us to the things that must be done. Rise up. Then sit down. And together we will protest these things that are deserving of protesting. I, Xigo, approve this. And I approve you. But I don't approve your character.

So no.

Wait... is there something actually serious going on, or are people actually taking the Elf-jokes seriously? Elves will always be the most mockable race in every fantasy setting, and anyone who gets upset about it really does need to lighten up... especially considering they usually make up the vast majority of characters on the server. Any elf who doesn't consider themselves socially, culturally, and intellectually (but not martially - any savage, primitive, brutish animal can bash a person's skull in) superior to non-elfs is either being modest or selling themselves short. The only race that comes close to Blood Elves in terms of culture and intellect is the similarly-derided and equally awesome Gnomes.

On a more serious note, I think I'm guilty of resenting Blood Elves and Silvermoon RP because it's so prevalent and frequently elf-exclusive (Even if not technically closed to non-elves, Blood Elven society is so radically different from the rest of the Horde it's difficult to integrate an Orc, Tauren, or Troll into Belf RP). Unless something's changed since I left over Thanksgiving, Blood Elf RP completely eclipses all other forms of Horde RP.

Seeing the complaint about a lack of Silvermoon/BElf RP... How often is there Orc-specific RP? Or Troll-specific RP? There's an occasional Tauren event. Silvermoon RP is far more plentiful than Ironforge, Thunder Bluff, Exodar, and Undercity RP combined.

(12-10-2012, 04:51 PM)Ghurm Wrote: [ -> ]^I can't like this enough.

You know, out of all the races of WoW that we play, I firmly believe that Gnomes are taken the least seriously. And it isn't the people who play Gnomes, it's the people who don't play Gnomes. I know that they don't mean bad by it, but they often find Gnomes cute, and nothing else. However, there's a lot behind that cute that people put into their characters because Gnomish society does a lot to Gnomes as they grow up in it because it can be strict in many aspects and if you add the fall of Gnomeregan and the eradication of 90% of a race, you're dealing with a character that has a complicated history. Additionally, they see the world in a different way: what they can make out of it. It's a very thoughtful race to play and not many people seem to think that it is. And no matter how many reasons people give to take Gnomes seriously, there are still plenty of players who will read them and still not take Gnomes seriously. It's annoying, and it's the reason I'm retiring my Gnome character.

As a player of a Gnome character myself, I think you're sounding like you're trying to take gnomes too seriously. They are a silly race, especially superficially. Being the intelligent, opportunistic race they are, they've learned to capitalize on that and use it to their advantage. Despite their history, Gnomes remain upbeat, cheerful, optimistic, and whimsical. My current problem with my gnomish character is that I tend to play him too seriously.

It is not the race that matters, but the people. And the people must stand firm. Shuffle together, sisters and men of various genders. Ignore the concept of 'this race gets lots of rp'. For many races get the roleplays. Instead, you will be doing the thought of 'I am happy because people get rp regardless of the race and this is joyous, I will now leave the OOC zone and celebrate this fact with more roleplay, of whatever race I desire, with others that are similar in thinking to me'.You must seek it out. And only then will you find true happiness.

Unify under one banner. CotH banner. Forever.

See I would say my hate for Elves comes from the current way they are portrayed as: prissy, snobby, lankey.... uh... I'm sure I'm forgetting something... But two of my favorite RP characters were Blood Elves, and one of my favorites heroes in warcraft is a Blood Elf: Kael'Thas you insane bastard I love you!

See now, he was a f-ing MODEL of how a Blood Elf should and can be: macho, strong, gruff, manly... plus it helps if you have a bitchin cape. Look at the windrunner sisters, they were some butch women. In warcraft 2, Alleria, if you click her character enough, will say "Do that again and you'll pull back a stump." Not very "Elfy" behavior if you ask me. The Elf archer/ranger voice actor in the game was also pretty manly sounding as well. In warcraft 3, the Night Elves had an interesting system: Only men were druids, and the females were the sentinels, the archers... But for some reason we blow off all this warrior like and heroic behavior in preference to the sparkly whispy flowing Elves... Yeck...

Elrond is another good example of the manly Elf. He looked ready to tear off the face of an Uruk-Hai. Hell, in the first movie, the man was covered in dirt and grease!

But to me, the common qualities of most literature Elves are grace, wisdom, and long lasting life. This reminds me of shaolin monks; you don't see anyone dismissing them though...

You know I hate the game, but dragon age did a pretty sweet job of Elves as well: clanner, human hunting... Thats what I modeled my two Elves as (along as self hating barbarians, was awesome.)

So do I hate Elf players? No, I had two of them as my main characters. Do I hate the state in which Elves are portrayed? Yes. You don't have to be some wise and whimsical Elf man, you can be a down and dirty pig-in-the-mud Elf, yet you just don't see that.

That's just my opinion for what it's worth. I'll have to re create my Elf brothers, that'll be fun...

I'm not taking offense to remarks. I'm not upset by them. I know no one means anything ill when they say it.

It's just after a while it gets a little annoying. Even the funniest of jokes go dry. Remember how funny "that's what she said" used to be? I've just about hit my limit on the humor of the usual remarks. Like I said, I enjoy a good joke. It's not an entire "stahp gais wat r u doin", it would just be nice to have it toned down a little. There's other characters of mine to poke fun at, and other characteristics of Doran to laugh at.

Again, there's also the fact we can't add a tone to words. That's to the mind of the reader. Sometimes the mind of the reader just won't pick it up as a joke.

(12-10-2012, 05:17 PM)SachikoMaeda Wrote: [ -> ]I've just about hit my limit

That's what she said.

OH SNAP.

Hahaha.


Hahahaha.

Haaah.


My sides, good lord.

That's the first time in ages I've laughed that hard at a "that's what she said" joke.

And this is why I love CotH. =')

(12-10-2012, 05:10 PM)Xigo Wrote: [ -> ]It is not the race that matters, but the people. And the people must stand firm. Shuffle together, sisters and men of various genders.

Jesse

James

Meowth that's ri-

oh.